A Day of Green. Pt 1: the healthy part.

Yesterday was all about the Leprechaun, the naughty little trickster character who is rumoured to keep a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. First he destroyed my living room by flinging blankets and pillows everywhere, then my kitchen by smearing green icing from wall to floor to ceiling and then by hiding the tots' numerous toys causing mayhem and panic through out the entire house! Tried as we might, we could not catch him. We even made a meal in his honor but he only teased us with a glimpse... Ahh... maybe next year.

Truth be told I think our meal was not glutenous enough for the little fellow. Instead it reflected the amazingly beautiful day we had, starting our feast with a sweet salad.

Green & Orange Fruity Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

• head of curly lettuce, washed & torn up into small bite sized pieces 
• 1/2 of peas in the pods, cleaned and cut into on the diagonal in 1in pieces
• 1 each apple & pear, sliced thinly
• royal* one orange

Dressing

• 1tbsp minced shallot
• 1tbsp dijon mustard
• three to one olive oil and sherry vinegar
• pinch of salt and pepper

Combine lettuce, peas, apple, pear and orange in a serving bowl. For dressing, combine, shallot, mustard, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a blender and blend. 

Serve dressing on the side in cute kid friendly vessels or dress at the table for the adult crowd.

* To royal an orange cut top and bottom off, remove outer skin and pith and slice wedges out between the ribs. This gets easier with practice, but make sure you use a sharp paring knife.

And then a veggie rich soup.

Mr Potatohead Leek soup

• 1/2 cup peeled & chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 half diced medium onion
• 3 cloves lightly mashed garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter*, divided
• 1 tsp dried thyme, less if you use fresh.
• salt and pepper to taste (I very rarely give quantities for S&P unless it is for baking) 
• 1/4 cup vermouth
• 4 cups leeks, cleaned diced, light green and white parts only.
• 1 1/2 lbs of potatoes** cleaned & peeled (optional) and chopped into cubes.
• water or stock to cover, about 6 cups.

Sweat chopped vegetables thyme, salt and pepper, minus the potato,  in a large sauce pan on medium low heat with 2 tbsp of butter and olive oil until soft with lid on.

After about 15 minutes and vegetables are soft add 1/4 cup vermouth, stir and add potatoes. Cover with water (or stock) bring to a boil and then turn down to a low. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are completely soft and falling apart on their own. Blend with an immersion blender or in batches using blender or food processor, remembering to cool first. If using a blender or processor return to pot, reheat and check for seasoning. 

To serve add a knob of *butter to each bowl of soup if not using a fatty stock.

** I used starchy gnarly potatoes and had to remove the skins due to dirt and scars! Mr Potatohead was spared.

photos by me.... next up green bread and minty chocolate cupcakes!

Simple dessert that bears repeating.

A couple of weeks ago we had a friend come over for dinner and being a weeknight affair we didn't want anything to heavy or involved for dessert. I found inspiration from another blog that I follow: A Taste of Savoie.


I had to tinker with the ingredients to reflect what was available to me...no fresh juniper berries and I like to drink my wine... but the rest of it was a snap. There is very litte preparation time involved and the lengthy bake time can be done while you are eating your dinner. All in all it is an easy solution for the what to serve for dessert on a weeknight.

Poached Pears in Wine, Vinegar and Orange Peel with Cloves

adapted from A Taste of Savoie.

• 4 hard pears,
• 8 fl oz dry red wine
• 8 fl oz organic cider vinegar
• 6 tbsp sugar or a shy 1/4 cup
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• rind from one clean thick skinned orange
• about 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Before baking preheat oven to 375F. To prepare pears peel and leave leave core and stem. Combine wine, vinegar, sugar, cloves and orange rind with a fresh squeeze of orange juice (about 2 tbsp worth) in a small sauce pan. Warm through to dissolve the sugar.  Place pears, side down in a casserole dish*, pour in liquid, cover with a lid and bake at 375F for 30 minutes, rotate and bake another 30 minutes.

To serve put in a small bowl pour liquid over top of the pear. A dessert spoon or fork will easily cut through the flesh from the fruit. 

The sauce can be made ahead of time but I recommend peeling the pears shortly before use, as they will turn brown and start to dry out. 

*The casserole dish should be big enough to hold the pears but not too big. Ideally you want the liquid to come up the sides of the pears.

I cooked an extra pear the next day just so that I could cut it up and show a cross section of the slices. The colour from the wine that permeated the flesh was a beautiful crimson contrast to the juicy moist white fruit.

photos by me.

Kitchen Jobs

painting brute force
tongs anyone?

I have actively been looking for jobs that the babies can do in the kitchen while I am cooking. Such as squeezing lemons, adding salt and pepper, brushing bread with oil etc. Even if seems a little mundane and not very exciting to me, tearing bread for croutons is a new adventure for them. However with this new found independence comes consequences for me..... olive oil to lemon juice, spills happen, so I brace myself to wipe up more, do more dishes and (what I dread most) more laundry.

Last nights dinner,

Potato & Pear soup with crusty croutons.